Artist: Hot Chelle Rae
Album: Whatever
Genre: Pop-rock
Label: RCA

Whatever is a most fitting title for this album, commencing as it does with a flippant, uniform dismissal of an offending girlfriend. It evolves into something more bizarre, its initial devil-may-care tunes giving way to soapy emotional ballads that sing only too highly of another girl (at least I’m hoping and assuming it’s not the same one). It is, nonetheless, a really enjoyable album with an appealing and upbeat disposition. The tracks are poppy and summery – a good antidote for the rapidly escalating winter weather – and while they’re not scoring any points for originality, provide some fun-loving escapism.

“I Like It Like That” is a solid if low-key opener. It’s a breezy and laid-back synth-pop number that keeps its music quite minimal and focuses instead on boisterous, cheery vocals. The air is encouragingly light and the mix of singing styles – a rap verse keeps the tempo up – works well with its frivolous demeanour. “Tonight, Tonight” keeps this colourful mood bright and sparky and hails the advantages of going out to get drunk over mulling over the girlfriend’s betrayals. The pacing, which doesn’t always convince during this album, works well here. It’s slow but not too slow, ensuring no-one loses interest, but not massively speedy either so as to send the song hurtling right over your head. Again, the instruments don’t intrude, with just a few guitars providing an adequate backdrop for a track more about lyrical excesses.

“Honestly” ups the ante somewhat. It’s high-pitched and dramatic and brings about more bombast in its music. The backing vocals are muted over intensive synth lines to bring out the full flavour of the nervous singing. Tonally, it’s still firmly optimistic with a wry and sardonic air lilting through its rhythm.

“Keep You with Me” is the first track to take a more serious, heartfelt approach. It’s a lot more loving than the others the vocals are and accordingly riper with feeling. Indeed, this track feels very much like a traditional chart number, with a big, sweeping chorus and really soaring vocals. It’s engaging enough and widely accessible, though not as much effortless fun as the others for obvious reasons. “Radio” talks warmly about ‘a little something to make you dance’ and duly obliges. While it’s lacking an extra punch to get under your skin, its chirpy combination of brash melodies, constant beat, and chirpy vocals is catchy and well-groomed. At this stage, the only complaint one could muster is how similar a lot of the songs sound – apart from the 360 degree turn for the preceding track, a lot of these poppier numbers are a bit formulaic. They’re fun and spirited, but seem to follow the same template all too easily.

That said, “Forever Unstoppable” does buck the trend. It reinvigorates proceedings, its opening distant call feeding into an unexpectedly thoughtful first verse underpinned by piano and urgent percussion. There’s more motion and a bit more life, with layers of synth adding polish to the chorus. It’s just as mainstream as the others but a little more colourful at the same time, its cacophonous musings giving it a vaguely club vibe too.

“Why Don’t You Love Me” is massively boosted by the addition of Demi Lovato’s vocals. Her presence naturally intensifies the chart feel and the song lays on the thick, pleading sentiment for something as popular and syrupy as they come. It is somewhat over-the-top but fits with the more pensive aspects of the album.

“Beautiful Freaks is a more vivacious number, revisiting the club vibe hinted at in “Forever Unstoppable” and channelling it into a loud, reckless dance track. While lacking greatly in substance, it’s kitted out with all the necessaries to get one’s toes tapping and thus should prove as likeable as the others. The band then finish off by ably combining the sleek veneer of their dance-heavy tracks with the gloss of the balladry on “The Only One.” This only partially succeeds though it does provide a fuller and more rewarding take on the classic love song. Further, it’s nice to see the lyrics end on a more positive note than how things began. Everyone’s a winner!

While Whatever has the massive potential to slide unnoticed into a battalion of pop-rock efforts, it offers plenty of colour and diversity and its generally sunny demeanour is very endearing. It has a wide-ranging appeal and should find a justly large audience. It isn’t quite as deep or meaningful as it seems to want to be, but the harmless frolicking on offer is no less fun for that.

SCORE: 7/10
Review written by Grace Duffy

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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